GB2511447A

GB2511447A - Multicellular vacuum material

Info

Publication number: GB2511447A
Application number: GB1408786.0A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Roy Hudson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2014-05-18
Filing date: 2014-05-18
Publication date: 2014-09-03
Also published as: GB201408786D0

Abstract

A structural material enclosing multiple cells, produced by processes including water extraction from a graphene oxide structure and additive manufacturing, for use in aeronautical, architectural and other applications, in which each cell contains a significant degree of vacuum, where for a given mass of material, the material occupies more volume than an equal mass of air at the atmospheric pressure of use. The material may be used in a 3D-printer.

Description

TITLE

Multicellular Vacuum Material

BACKGROUND

s The primary fields of application of the disclosed invention (hereafter, invention') are aeronautics and structural engineering.

Secondary fields of application are not limited.

The invention is a multicellular material sealing a vacuum in individual cells that, for a given mass, occupies more volume than io an equal mass of air; it is lighter than air'. Among others, this solves the prior art problem of flight being reliant on either lift generated from a lifting surface such as a wing in movement relative to air, which generally requires a significant amount of energy devoted to producing lift, or on the use of lighter than air is gases such as helium or hydrogen, both of which have significant drawbacks which have restricted the scope of their use. An aircraft, to give only one possible example, constructed using the invention could be made either fully buoyant (i.e. lighter than air) or neutrally buoyant, or still heavier than air but less so than if it had not used such material, reducing fuel consumption and C02 emissions for example.

Aeronautical applications are not limited to manned or unmanned flight, or to purposes of operation, or to certain altitudes or locations or scales of operation. Applications could include large aircraft, drones, and small scale (including nano-scale) applications, including indoors or in other environments, and could include geostationary as well as other mobile or immobile applications, able to serve a wide variety of secondary applications. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

Applications in structural engineering include applications in which s a light weight material, including light effective weight after taking into account buoyant force in an atmosphere, is desirable. This can include architecture, including in a geostationary or otherwise mobile or immobile application, and a wide variety of secondary applications. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

Multicellular structures in this context include any structure with sufficient internal void spaces at any scale to enclose a useful amount of vacuum, including honeycomb-type structures, as well as individual spherical structures (or near to approximating spheres as the nano-scale structure allows) collected together into a is material. The cells are not necessarily uniform in size or construction. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

Those skilled in the art in these fields and others will recognise obvious applications and benefits from the invention and such obvious applications are therefore considered to be within the scope of the invention.

STATEMENT OF INVENTION

The invention comprises a light weight material enclosing multiple cells, in which each cell contains a significant degree of vacuum, with the result that for a given mass, the material occupies more s volume than an equal mass of air at the atmospheric pressure of use.

A key inventive step is that each individual vacuum cell is sealed, with the multicellular construction enhancing resistance to atmospheric pressure and, in practical use, minimizing the effect of 0 any localized damage.

The invention is not obvious to those skilled in the prior art as it involves the production of a vacuum-rich structural material; a structural material with a high component of nothing'.

ADVANTAGES

The advantages of the invention, both compared to the prior art and new, include but are not limited to: a decrease in power required for flight, reducing power generation resource consumption and decreasing C02 emissions from power generation, an improved lifting medium for lighter than air craft, as the mass of helium and/or hydrogen is more than that of vacuum, and simplifying the construction and use of permanently or semi-permanently aloft craft, platforms, tools, agents, drones, structures, buildings etc. for an almost unlimited variety of purposes, the embodiments not being limited in this or the above contexts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Multicellular vacuum material may be created by several means; the embodiments are not limited in this context.

A membrane or structure of graphene oxide can be constructed to s be impermeable to liquids and gases and vacuum-tight. This structure can however allow the passage of water molecules. In one embodiment, such graphene oxide structures are assembled to create a larger structure in a water-filled vacuum chamber. The water is removed from the chamber, and as high a vacuum as practicable is achieved instead. At the greatly reduced pressure, water will boil at or below room temperature to facilitate evacuation, or temperature can be selected to maximize evacuation without thermal damage to the structure. Once complete, the outer surface of the material is sealed to prevent is ingress of water. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

Other embodiments include controlled deposition of material to create a multicellular structure within a vacuum environment, building in the vacuum from the beginning. Embodiments include additive manufacturing ("3D printing") processes performed in a vacuum. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

Claims

CLAIMS1 A material enclosing multiple cells, produced by processes including water extraction from a graphene oxide structure and additive manufacturing, in which each cell contains a significant degree of vacuum, where for a given mass of material, the material occupies more volume than an equal mass of air at the atmospheric pressure of use.